


opposite lovers

by finalfrontierpioneer



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Acquaintances to Lovers, But really more like, F/M, Friends to Lovers, No Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Secret Relationship, Sexual Content, only good feels here, slow burn? i don't know her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 13:04:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17080829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finalfrontierpioneer/pseuds/finalfrontierpioneer
Summary: Veronica steps up to fix her friendship with Betty after kissing Archie, and ends up surprising everyone, including herself.





	opposite lovers

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, I need to give credit where credit's due. I was actually partly inspired by Lattes_lipstick_literature's fic Catching Feelings. It's part of the premise of that story that Veronica tells Betty she's into Jughead, not Archie. I saw that and ran with it in this story. Beyond that, the stories aren't actually all that similar, but if you like this one (and if you don't!), you should go check that one out!
> 
> Secondly, this is my first Jeronica fic, so please be gentle! I have only watched the first season of Riverdale, and even that was a loooong time ago. I couldn't talk myself into a rewatch, so there may be some timeline errors/weird OOCness. But hopefully that doesn't ruin it for you!
> 
> Happy holidays and happy reading!

Veronica has never had a friend like Betty. Never had a friend who wouldn’t actually love to climb over her on their way to the top of the social ladder. Betty is pure in comparison to all those other “friends”, and a totally fresh personality in her life.

And she needs that. How else can Veronica prove to herself that she’s a better person than she used to be?

This is why Betty absolutely _has_ to forgive her for kissing Archie. It was just a complete lapse in judgement on Veronica’s part. She was admittedly stupidly blinded by Archie’s wholesome good looks and those muscles.

It won’t happen again. It can’t.

So Veronica corners Betty in the front office, box of cupcakes from Magnolia’s (all the way from New York) in hand, and begs for forgiveness.

“I swear Betty, it won’t happen again,” Veronica says earnestly, “it was just seven minutes in heaven. It didn’t mean anything.”

But Betty doesn’t look convinced. “I dunno, Veronica. It looked pretty real to me.”

“The kiss wasn’t even that great,” Veronica interjects quickly, “And Archie isn’t even my type.” (Lies. Both lies.)

Betty raises one blonde eyebrow doubtfully. “Then who is?”

Shit. She doesn’t have an answer. Just then, her saving grace walks by the office windows. The one boy who is most unlike Archie Andrews in all of Riverdale High. Riverdale’s very own Holden Caulfield.

“Jughead, actually,” Veronica says confidently.

Betty chokes. “What?” And then she starts laughing, disbelieving, and honestly, a little mean. “Okay, if you wanna win back my friendship, start by not lying to me.”

And then she starts walking away, exiting the office and striding down the crowded hallway, blonde ponytail swinging.

“Wait!” Veronica rushes after her. “I’m not lying!” she lies. “He’s...well-read and...smart,” she spits out in a rush. “And he’s actually kind of cute if you look past the ever-present beanie.”

Betty stares at her. And then shrugs dismissively. “Whatever you say, Veronica.” But she doesn’t run away again, so Veronica counts it as a win.

Kevin interrupts them before Veronica can persuade Betty any more, pushing them both toward their first period. “We have an emergency. I just heard we have a pop quiz in History, and I didn’t do the reading last night. Did either of you?”

Betty launches into a brief summary of the Battle of 1812, and Veronica’s made up crush on Jughead Jones is temporarily forgotten.

\----

Archie sits down next to Veronica at lunch that day. She glances at Betty, who, of course, has noticed. Her hands are balled into fists where Veronica can see them on the table.

So she bites the bullet and opens her mouth. “How do you think you did on the history pop quiz, Jughead?” She makes sure to bat her eyelashes at him enticingly, and leans over the table to display her...assets, so to speak.

She might as well have not even bothered. Jughead blinks in confusion at her from where he’s seated diagonally across from her. As per usual, his laptop is open in front of him and he’s in the process of stuffing his mouth with fries while ignoring everyone else at the table.

Why didn’t Veronica just say Dilton Doiley or something else just as humiliating as this? There is no way anyone will believe she has a crush on this ridiculous boy.

But he tilts his head and answers her, “Fine, I guess?” And then immediately goes back to his laptop. Joy. Veronica has to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

But Betty’s unclenched her hands, so at least that interaction benefited someone.

\----

If Betty’s going to actually believe her, Veronica needs to commit to this hard. So that’s exactly what she does. In the weeks since she gave Betty those cupcakes, she has filled her public interactions with Jughead with hair flips and bitten lips. She always makes sure to sit next to him at lunch, and pays him all sorts of unnecessary attention.

At least, in front of Betty she flirts hard. When Betty’s not around, she mostly ignores him.

Not that it matters. Jughead seems completely ignorant of her hot and cold attitude. Her short skirts and low collars do nothing for him, apparently.

During history, which they share with Betty, when she taps on his shoulder to ask for a pencil, he glares at her and grumbles about the rich girl asking for school supplies. She doesn’t even get a chance to show off her tightest skirt, because Jughead only looks at her face for half a second before begrudgingly handing her a pencil and turning back toward the board.

It’s enough to give a girl a complex.

(But then she notices Reggie staring at her legs in math class and she knows she’s still got it.)

She both wants Jughead to notice her and wants him to keep ignoring her. It’s so confusing. And honestly, very irritating.

She even joins the Blue and Gold, ostensibly to spend time with Jughead, but really because she’s tired of being alone in the Pembroke.

If New York Veronica could see her now, she’d be horrified. Other than the River Vixens, she doesn’t really have many extracurriculars. And Cheryl ruins that one for her.

Only problem is, this means she has to actually spend time with Jughead. And Betty’s there most of the time, which means she has to turn on the charm (of which she has a considerable amount, thank you very much).

On a Thursday when Betty is in a meeting with Weatherbee, Veronica finally snaps. She stomps over to his desk and gives him one last chance. To notice her? To acknowledge her flirting and reject her outright? Honestly, even she’s not sure.

She perches on the edge of his desk, skirt hiked up almost indecently, and clears her throat when he doesn’t say anything.

He doesn’t even look up from his laptop screen. “What?” He asks irritably.

It’s the last straw.

She slams his laptop shut. That gets his attention real quick. “What the fuck, Lodge?”

She doesn’t beat around the bush. “So what is it? Are you gay?”

He glares at her incredulously. “Excuse me?” For the first time, she feels like she has his complete attention. It’s a little unnerving.

But a Lodge never backs down. “Answer the question.”

“No, I’m not gay!” he spits out, “But even if I was, that’s none of your business.”

She throws up her hands. “Then what’s wrong with you?”

“Alright, I’ll bite, what are you even talking about?” He sounds more exasperated than angry now.

“I’ve been practically throwing myself at you, you idiot!” Abruptly it hits her how ridiculous she’s being and how embarrassing this is going to be to look back on.

Jughead is gobsmacked. “Why?” falls out of his mouth seemingly without his permission.

They’re just staring at each other now. And she started this, so what’s she going to do now?

She grabs the collar of his stupid S t-shirt with one manicured hand and yanks him up toward her. Their mouths smack together almost painfully. There’s a lot of teeth; it’s really not super pleasant.

She’s not surprised when Jughead pulls away. He falls back into his chair, wiping a hand over his mouth. He stares at her like he’s never seen her before.

She scrambles uselessly for something to say, but she’s distracted. His eyes are so blue.

She is surprised when he grabs her still outstretched hand and pulls her into his lap. So surprised that when he presses his mouth to hers again, she doesn’t fight it.

This time, it’s good. Jughead’s tongue finds his way into her mouth at the same time his hands graze the hem of her skirt. She melts.

Her hands move from where they’re clutching at his shirt to tangle in his hair. She pulls him as close as she can. He goes willingly and enthusiastically.

His fingers inch higher under her skirt and she gasps into his mouth.

It’s embarrassing how quickly she scrambles for his zipper.

A locker in the hallway slams shut and their heads whip toward the door.

No one’s there.

They both breathe identical sighs of relief.

And then freeze. She slowly turns to look back at Jughead. He’s a mess. His zipper’s half undone, and the collar of his shirt is stretched out from her desperate clawing. She’s knocked the beanie right off his head, and it’s a completely different look for him. She hadn’t realized his hair was so thick.

Well, she certainly knows from experience now. She feels a blush rising in her cheeks, and is pleased to note that Jughead’s cheeks are also rosy.

He slowly rakes his gaze up her body, finally noticing her legs (his hands are burning where they’re wrapped around her thighs, still grazing the hem of her skirt) and her chest (she can’t slow her breathing) before meeting her eyes.

He licks his lips (she can’t help but notice), “Fuck.” For once, they’re in complete agreement.

For a second, they just stare at each other in complete bemusement.

She laughs. Once she starts, she can’t stop. She only realizes she’s still straddling him when Jughead starts laughing too. His laughs shake her whole body.

It’s the first time she’s ever seen him genuinely smiling. Brooding suits him better objectively, but Veronica’s completely taken aback by the sight of him smiling. She made him smile.

She wants to taste it.

But she pulls herself off his lap, unexpectedly shy in the face of...whatever just happened. She’s taken both of them by surprise.

“Betty will be coming back soon,” she rationalizes out loud.

He nods, but he’s watching her mouth with undisguised fascination. She finds herself swaying back towards him, but they hear Betty at the door before she can do anything (else) crazy.

Veronica hurriedly pulls down her skirt and runs her fingers through her hair as she practically throws herself across the room into her seat. When she looks up, Jughead has reclaimed his beanie from the floor and is awkwardly adjusting himself in his pants.

When he catches her looking, he blushes bright red and stares pointedly at his laptop screen.

\----

She’s certainly got his attention now.

Veronica dials up the flirting in public, as well as in private. Now that Jughead’s paying attention, her advances are no longer being ignored.

Where he used to mostly ignore her presence at lunch, sitting next to him now has the added benefit of a firm knee pressed up against hers, and sometimes, if she’s lucky, a discreet hand on her thigh.  
She doesn’t have to come up with contrived reasons to get his attention in history class. Now, he’s the one turning round in his seat to ask for a pencil. She very graciously makes sure she always has one on hand.

And it’s certainly not all so PG. Like any other two red blooded American teenagers, they can’t keep their hands off of each other.

It’s like a dam’s been broken.

They scratch that ever persistent itch in the school library (among other places). She’s got her legs wrapped around his waist, back braced against the back wall of shelves.

Jughead sucks a hickey onto her neck while two of his fingers press into her and she nearly draws blood from biting her lip to keep quiet.

She’d be embarrassed of how eager she is for it if she couldn’t feel the evidence of just how equally eager he is. She rocks against his fingers and the hardness against her inner thigh. He groans and she pulls his mouth back to hers, in part to stifle the noise, in part just because she wants it.

He rubs a thumb at her clit, and that’s all it takes. She shakes apart around his fingers while he swallows her gasps.

Jughead gently extricates himself from her and lets her slide down to stand on her own two feet. She’s sweaty, and breathing hard, but she still pushes him back to take her place against the bookshelves.

“Your turn,” she says breathlessly, sinking seductively to her knees in front of him.

\----

It’s not even hard to ignore Archie’s hamfisted flirtations.

Whenever Archie turns his charming grin her way, she’s usually not even looking. She finds herself constantly distracted by Jughead’s long fingers when he’s typing away at his laptop, or the dimple near the corner of his mouth when he smirks.

Not that Archie and Betty are even close to dating, but Veronica won’t touch that situation. Not when she can snark at Jughead in public and make out with him in secret.

Every single time Betty leaves the Blue and Gold office for any reason, she finds herself tangled up in Jughead. Whether she’s straddling him in the chair like the first time or he has her pinned up against the desk, they just can’t get enough.

It turns out arguing about literature and film (or literally anything under the sun) is like foreplay to them. It gets her hotter than she expected.

She’s sitting in the office with Betty half-heartedly working on an article about the River Vixens after school, waiting for Jughead to get here. Ever since their illicit hookups started, she’d been doing most of her writing at home, but Jughead’s late and it’s distracting her.

Her phone vibrates and she snatches it off her desk.

It’s Jughead: “Outside. Now.” He’s never asked for a tryst this way, but Veronica isn’t gonna say no.

“I’m just gonna run to the bathroom,” she tells Betty as she leaves.

Betty just waves her off without looking up from her laptop screen, “I’ll be here.”

As soon as she’s out the door, Jughead is grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the nearest storage closet.

She nearly trips in her heels trying to keep up with his longer legs.

“Jesus, what’s your rush? Are you really that horny?” She teases.

But he just shushes her and shoves her into the closet. He checks to see that no one else is in the hallway before following her in and locking the door behind him.

She glares at him, “Can you chill? Or at least warn a girl?” She still starts unbuttoning her blouse; she might be irritated but he’s surprisingly hot when he’s taking charge.

Jughead blinks at her. “What are you doing?” He looks at her like she’s grown a second head.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” she gestures to her half unbuttoned blouse.

“I didn’t text you for sex!” he looks hilariously offended.

Now Veronica’s embarrassed. She hurriedly starts buttoning up her shirt. “Well, you don’t have to be an ass about it!”

Jughead looks unapologetic, “This is serious!”

“What is?”

“You know how Archie is taking music lessons from Ms. Grundy?”

She nods. Yes, Veronica knows. Betty won’t shut up about how talented Archie is, and how Ms. Grundy must be so impressed by him.

“I don’t think music is all she’s teaching him,” Jughead insinuates, “I just walked by the music room and- Veronica, they were kissing.”

Veronica’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. She sucks in a quick breath. “Ohmygod.”

“Right?”

“Holy shit,” Archie’s admiration of the music teacher makes so much more sense now. Fuck, this is going to kill Betty.

“What do I do?” Jughead asks her.

“Before you do anything, you have to talk to him.”

Jughead nods in agreement. “Okay, you’re right, you’re right.” He pulls off his beanie and runs his hands through his hair. He’s obviously stressed.

She reaches for his hand. “Hey, how about this? You don’t have to do anything. I can confront him and say I saw them.”

Jughead looks at her like she’s surprised him. His gaze softens until she feels an answering blush in her cheeks. Then he shakes his head. “Nah, it’ll be better coming from me. You’re a hot girl he still thinks he has a shot with.”

“You think I’m hot?” Veronica smirks, pulling on his hand where she’s unintentionally laced their fingers.

He eyes her speculatively and that softness becomes a smirk. “Unbutton your shirt again? I need more data,” He reaches for the buttons himself, saving her the trouble.

\----

Predictably, shit hits the fan. To say that Archie and Jughead’s conversation did not go well would be an understatement. Betty and Kevin have no idea why the two boys are at each other’s throats, and Veronica has to pretend she doesn’t either.

It feels odd knowing Jughead confided in her, but it also feels very good. She won’t betray that trust for anything. Not even Betty. Because, really, she doesn’t want to be the bearer of that particular piece of news to the quintessential girl next door anyway.

And that’s hard. Betty’s childhood best friends are fighting, and neither will tell her why. Veronica knows all of Betty’s feelings on the subject because she’s been venting nonstop about it to Veronica and Kevin during lunch.

Neither Archie or Jughead has shown up to eat today, and she’s pretty she knows where Archie is ( _ew_ ), but she itches to go hunt down Jughead. Maybe the library?

Really, Betty’s mostly upset about Archie not talking to her. Which pisses Veronica off a little, because that seems a little unfair to Jughead. Isn’t he her best friend, too?

But Veronica keeps her mouth shut, and lets Kevin jump in with the latest gossip around the school. “I heard that Archie’s been hooking up with someone, but no one seems to know who. Do you think that could be what they’re fighting about?”

Oh shit. “Where did you hear that?” she hisses at Kevin.

But Kevin’s staring at Betty, who’s staring at Veronica. Suspiciously.

“You know who else has been acting odd?” Betty begins, deceptively calm.

“Wait, wait, wait, it’s not what you think,” Veronica tries to head her off.

But Betty will not be deterred. “I knew you wanted Archie! You tried to distract from it by flirting with Jughead, but I’m not stupid. I saw that kiss.”

“What kiss?” comes from right behind Veronica. Her heart stops. Jughead slouches into the seat next to her.

Betty’s quick to point out Veronica’s past sins, “Veronica and Archie kissed at Cheryl’s party after Homecoming, and they’ve been hooking up ever since. But she was flirting with you so you thought she wanted you. That’s what you’ve been fighting about, right?”

Veronica’s panicking. Betty thinks she’s solved the mystery, so she looks smug. Jughead looks...she doesn’t know what Jughead looks like, and Kevin looks like he’s just beginning to understand.

“No! Jesus, Betty. I told you I don’t want Archie.” she says through gritted teeth. “It was just one kiss, it didn’t mean anything,” she says mostly to Jughead.

Betty snorts. “Yeah, one kiss in front of the whole school,” she says derisively.

“Wait, Betty, I think-” Kevin tries to interrupt.

She doesn’t let him. “I thought you were my friend, Vee,” she adds the nickname snidely.

Veronica swallows hard, unable to defend herself in the face of Betty’s fury. She might not be sleeping with Archie, but to be fair, she did kiss him even though she knew about Betty’s feelings for him.

She can’t even look at Jughead, afraid of what judgement she might see on his face.

There’s a sudden laugh from the end of the table. All four of their heads whip in that direction.

Cheryl stands there, Archie trailing behind her with his lunch tray. “Veronica and Archie have not been hooking up, Betty dear,” her perfectly red mouth grins widely, breaking the tension over the table.

Archie blinks in surprise, “Wait, what?”

There’s silence for a moment. Veronica stares at the table, trying to blink away her watering eyes and the humiliation of this moment.

And then, of all people, Jughead speaks up. “Alright, way to state the obvious, Cheryl. Clearly Veronica and Archie haven’t been hooking up.”

Veronica looks up at her unlikely savior. He isn’t looking at her, but he is rolling his eyes at Betty. “You’re so blind when it comes to Archie.”

Betty sucks in an angry breath, “How _dare_ you-”

Archie tosses his lunch tray on the table and pinches the bridge of his now. He interrupts her desperately, “Betty, it’s not Veronica.”

Cheryl laughs meanly. “Oh, I beg to differ. It is Veronica, it’s just not Archie she’s been spreading her legs for.”

Everybody looks at Cheryl, except for Jughead. He meets Veronica’s gaze with a quirk of his eyebrow. She’s instantly reassured. They’re about to be outed, but Jughead’s got her back.

Cheryl takes a second to revel in the attention. She flips her hair over one shoulder dramatically before finally dropping the bombshell.

She points one blood red fingernail at Jughead. “Turns out Trailer Trash has been screwing the Park Avenue Princess behind your backs this entire time.”

Kevin and Archie are frozen, mouths wide enough to gather flies. Archie looks significantly more accusing and jealous than Kevin.

Betty’s guilty, “Oh,” is all she can faintly manage to say.

Cheryl grins brightly in the aftermath of her big reveal, “Toodles!” and the devil herself is bouncing away.

“ _Ohmygod_ ,” Kevin breaks the awkward silence. “Seriously?”

Jughead doesn’t say anything, so Veronica takes it upon herself to respond. “Yes, seriously,” she snaps.

She sees Jughead flinch out of the corner of her eye and immediately regrets snapping. The next thing she says is much more gentle, “This isn’t exactly how I pictured telling everyone.”

Kevin looks between them considering, “I honestly have no idea how you hid this from us- neither of you is exactly discreet.”

Jughead huffs and rolls his eyes while Veronica just shrugs.

“But I don’t understand...why?” Archie jumps into the conversation.

Before Veronica can say anything, Jughead speaks up, “Why do you think? Obviously she doesn’t want anybody to know she’s hooking up with the school weirdo.”

“What?!” Veronica’s stunned. “Jughead, is that what you really think?”

He raises his hands placatingly. “I didn’t say I was mad about it, but let’s not kid ourselves here. You have way more to lose by hooking up with me than the other way around.”

 Out of the corner of her eye, she sees that Archie’s nodding in agreement. Veronica feels a sudden urge to slap him, but before she can do anything, the lunch bell rings.

\----

Betty corners her at her locker when the last bell rings.

“I’m so sorry, Vee, I should never have said that,” she says, eyes downcast.

Veronica rolls her eyes. Obviously.

Betty continues. “I didn’t know you were actually interested in Jughead, you’ve gotta believe me.”

Veronica doesn’t say anything.

“I just- when Archie’s involved, I assume everybody feels the same as me,” Betty admits, sheepish. “And I know I’m just his friend and I have no hold on him.” She takes a deep breath. “So I’m gonna try to work on that.”

Veronica looks up sharply. “What?”

“Obviously this whole Archie obsession is unhealthy for me and it’s ruining my relationship with my best friends,” Betty looks at her earnestly. “So I’m gonna try to move on.”

She blinks. This is uncharted territory. “Ohmygod, Bee. That’s big.”

“I know,” Betty says, “But you’re just as important to me as he is. And so is Jughead, even though I haven’t been doing a great job of being a friend lately.”

Betty pulls a box from behind her back. “It’s not Magnolia’s, but I skipped last period to get you this.” She places the cupcake box on top of the books in Veronica’s arms. “Please forgive me?”

Veronica smiles. “Well, I can’t say no to apology cupcakes.” She pulls Betty into a one-armed embrace.

\----

Unfortunately, they’ve got River Vixens practice after school, which means Veronica can’t just go confront Jughead immediately. Instead, it gives Archie a chance to interrogate her first.

He might be hot, but Veronica is seriously tired of the red heads of this school ambushing her.

He approaches her sheepishly while she’s stretching, rubbing one hand on the back of his neck, “Hey, Ronnie. Crazy stuff at lunch today, huh?”

She is so not in the mood.

“What do you mean?” Veronica feigns confusion. “Oh you mean certain revelations about me and Jughead? Because honestly, that’s way less weird than your whole Mrs. Robinson deal with Ms. Grundy.”

All the color drains out of Archie’s face. “Jughead told you?!”

Veronica winces; she might have come off a little strong. “Only because he was worried about you, Archie. Who else was he supposed to talk to? You obviously did not take it well.”

Archie narrows his eyes at her. “I’m just shocked he’d talk to you about anything.”

“Okay- whatever mean girl and loner weirdo cliche boxes you have us in, you need to re-evaluate,” she rolls her eyes and continues stretching.

Archie frowns, looking off at the football field before turning back to her, “So are you guys just hooking up or what? No offense, but I can’t see you two as a couple,” Archie laughs at her charmingly, not sensing the danger awaiting him in that conversation.

Veronica sucks in a quick breath; she hopes Cheryl and all the other River Vixens aren’t paying too much attention to them.

She goes on the offensive, pointedly refusing to acknowledge Archie’s preconceived notions of her social superiority, “Why not? Is he too smart for me? Maybe you think I’m too shallow?”

“No, of course not, Veronica!” Archie holds up his hands in surrender, “You know what I mean. Come on, it’s just kind of shocking.”

She relents a little, “Look, I realize you have beef with Jughead, but trying to talk him down to me is not the way to go about fixing anything.” Veronica raises her chin up resolutely, “I’m actually really into him, and I’m not going to apologize for that.”

She sees Betty start walking their way, clearly concerned by what has become a heated conversation.

He looks embarrassed now, “You’re right; I’m sorry,” he says earnestly. “Jughead’s my best friend, of course I think he’s great. And you’re great. You guys together is great.” He pauses, “I’m gonna leave now before I say great again.” He quickly walks away, waving a hasty goodbye to Betty on his way.

Veronica blinks in surprise. Maybe she was too quick to be irritated by Archie.

Betty finally reaches her, “What was that about?”

“I think…” she tilts her head, “though there was a lot of awkward fumbling in there, I think Archiekins just gave Jughead and I his blessing.”

\----

That night, Veronica thinks long and hard about her dilemma. And it really is just her dilemma. Like he said earlier at lunch, Jughead doesn’t actually seem bothered.

Which she just does not get.

When she texts him, he responds with his usual sarcasm. He can’t come meet her that night, but he’ll see her at school tomorrow. (Though he’s flattered she can’t go without him for one night.)

Jughead’s acting totally normal, but Veronica just can’t let it go. She told Jughead (and everybody else at the table) that Cheryl outing them wasn’t how she’d pictured revealing their relationship to everyone.

But she hasn’t actually gotten as far as picturing how she would. So now she does.

Sure, Jughead doesn’t seem like he’d be all that into PDA, but she needs to make it clear that not only does she not care if people know, she wants everyone to know they’re together.

She doesn’t see the solution until it’s right in front of her face. Her cheerleading uniform is set out neatly on her bed, freshly ironed for tomorrow morning.

She grins. Perfect.

\----

The pep rally is in full swing. The school gym is packed, of course, since it’s during school hours.

The River Vixens have done their routine, and now they’re sitting in chairs next to the podium, pompoms in their laps.

Principal Weatherbee is in the middle of a speech about coming together as a school, blah blah blah. Veronica doesn’t care, she’s watching Jughead.

He’s sitting in the back corner of the bleachers, as per usual, but he doesn’t have his laptop out for once. He’s staring right back at her. Veronica can’t actually tell from this far away, but she imagines (hopes) that he has that soft look she’s become so fond of in his eyes.

The pep rally ends, and she’s heard none of the speeches. But it doesn’t matter.

The students start filing out, which is Veronica’s cue.

She pops up from her seat and hops off the stage, ignoring a startled rebuke from Weatherbee.

Veronica smooths down her hair and starts up the bleachers toward where Jughead is still up near the end of the crowd of students filing out.

He frowns at her in confusion when she reaches him. “What’s wrong?”

She just reaches up to grip the collar of his plaid button up in both hands. His eyes flash to the surrounding students, but Veronica doesn’t hesitate.

She leans in slowly, rising to her tiptoes to kiss him, giving him a chance to back out. She really hopes he doesn’t back out, or she’ll be humiliated.

He doesn’t disappoint. He leans down to meet her halfway and presses his lips firmly against hers.

Jughead hesitantly slides his arms around her waist. She smiles into the kiss and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him more firmly to her. Veronica feels his lips curl up in response, and she swears her heart glows.

They reluctantly pull away from each other to the sound of catcalls and wolf whistles, but none of that dulls Veronica’s bright smile.

“ _This_ is more like how I pictured us telling everyone,” she tells him.

He laughs, “No one would ever accuse you of doing anything by halves.” Jughead has that soft look on his face again, and Veronica can’t help but lean in to peck him on the lips again.

“So what do you say you and me go steady, Torombolo?” she asks, flirtatiously glancing up at him through her dark eyelashes.

Jughead takes a second to look around at the rest of the school, down to where Archie is standing on the stage grinning and giving him a thumbs up.

He finally smirks down at her, “I’d say that’s the best idea you’ve had all year,” then he hesitates and smiles shyly, “Actually, I’d say yes, _please_. I would love to go steady.”

Veronica’s heart nearly beats out of her chest and her huge smile already feels painful.

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” she teases.

Jughead rolls his eyes fondly, “Well, shit. Now my reputation's just _ruined_.”

She laces their fingers together and pulls him in to kiss the smile off his face. Now she can taste it whenever she wants.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm totally in awe of everything the Jeronica fandom produces, and it took me a while to actually convince myself to finish and post this. But I figure if even one other person enjoys this, it was worth posting!
> 
> Feel free to comment or kudos- let's be real, I need constant validation :)


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